AQUATIC PROGRAM
Overview
The Kittelson Swim Program was researched and designed with some fundamental principles in mind.
- Babies already have natural instincts with respect to the water and their responses to it.
- Babies and young children need to feel comfortable in their aquatic environment before they can begin learning skills.
- Babies and children can benefit from developing simple techniques that can be used to reverse a potentially dangerous situation in the water.
- Young children first need to be taught how to balance and orient themselves in the water before they are able to learn the strokes involved in swimming.
The Kittelson Swim Program is divided into four categories based on age and skill progression. The program is designed so that each level builds on the previous level. The four level categories are Little Dippers, Tadpoles, Learn to Swim, and Squads.
Skill Tracking
Our goal is to record, utilize and transfer information on your child's progress as accurately and efficiently as possible. When your child passes a skill, it is recorded by the instructor and they are able to update and reference this information all session. At the end of the session your child will receive a report card reflecting their progress. This valuable information regarding your child's skills is then kept on file for use in future classes.
Little Dippers
Little Dippers
(ages 6 months – 24 months with a parent)
“If you want to give your child a great start, encourage their love for the water.”
Babies are born with natural instincts in regards to their water environment. Our Little Dipper classes take a baby’s innate responses in the water and turns them into a skill set by the use of repetition, verbal cues and prompting. A baby will begin developing a positive affinity to the warm water by introducing it at an early age. With our submersion techniques, your child will begin to establish balance in the water as well as create a comfort level that they can benefit from as they grow in age and skill.
Little Dippers 1 Snail 
Little Dippers 1 begins for babies 6 to 12 months old. We created this class to orientate your Little Dipper in the water with Mom or Dad. Using the benefit of songs and our proven aquatic techniques, we are able to teach submersions, sit jumps and wall hangs. The goal is to create a comfort level in and under the water. This comfort level will in turn give your baby the gift of freedom in the water as he/she grows older.
Little Dippers 2 Jellyfish 
Little Dippers 2 is for babies age 12 to 24 months and specially designed to provide your baby with survival skills that they can use in their aquatic environment. We teach submersions, turns and swim back to the wall, as well as assisted standing jumps. At the end of this course, your Little Dipper will have skills that they can use if ever in a dangerous water situation.
Tadpoles
Tadpoles
(Beginning at age 2 years in the water with an instructor)
“Give them the opportunity to try, and you will afford them the confidence of a lifetime.”
The series of Tadpole classes is designed to provide a child with the skills to feel comfortable in the water alone with an instructor. As a tadpole begins to establish a trusting relationship with an instructor, safety survival skills are introduced in a controlled environment. Once a child feels secure, then they can start to grow in confidence and skill. It is fundamental that a Tadpole learn how to balance and orient themselves in the water. This will give them a great advantage in the Learn to Swim Program. Upon completion of Tadpoles, your child will be able to perform the necessary safety survival skills to fall in, turn and exit the pool by themselves. It is at this point that your child is ready to learn the swim strokes in our next series of classes.
Level 1 Crab 
This class is designed for the very beginning swimmer. Our goal is to make sure that your child feels comfortable in their aquatic environment without Mom or Dad. Using trust, patience, and compassion, our instructors will teach your child to overcome any fears or anxieties they may have about being in the water. We ensure your child’s success by providing them with continuous reinforcement. We focus on water exploration by using jump-ins, submersions, backfloats and our special “magic carpet” ride.
Level 2 Guppy 
This class emphasizes the basic safety survival skills your child will need in the water. We teach backfloats, monkey walks, submersions and beginning backfloat rollovers. Our focus is to eliminate the “fear of falling” by creating a balance while swimming underwater for up to 5 feet. Another technique we use to help children feel comfortable and balanced is to have them jump-in and float to the top of the water unassisted. Upon completion of this course, your child will be ready for the final level of our safety survival skills.
Level 3 Turtle 
This is the final course for safety survival skills for your young swimmer. This class is designed to provide your child with several options if they were to ever fall in the water or become too tired while swimming. It emphasizes swim distance and rollovers, both of which will enable your child to orient themself if ever to fall into the water. Children also work on their back kick so they would be able to breathe or yell for help while propelling themselves to safety. Another safety skill that is accomplished in this level is being able to fall in, turn, swim back to the side of the pool, and climb out unassisted. Upon completion of this course, your child is ready to learn their strokes in levels 4-6.
Learn to Swim
Learn to Swim
“A child who swims, builds confidence with every stroke. Encourage them to use that confidence both in and out of the pool.”
Now that your child has completed their safety survival skills, they are ready to start learning their swim strokes. All four strokes require a child to master the correct balance, body and head position, technique and timing. The Learn to Swim Program uses a research-based methodology which relies on short distance swims and repetition. The integrity of the strokes is best maintained in this controlled environment. Upon completion of the Learn to swim Program, your child will have acquired their safety survival skills, and you will be confident in all of their swim strokes. If interested in pursuing swimming as a sport, or in learning more about Lifesaving, your child is now ready to join our squads.
Level 4 Frog 
Level 4 is the first course in our Learn to Swim Program. This is the class in which your child will be introduced to the four basic strokes in swimming: Frontcrawl, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Butterfly. Our instructors emphasize the importance of a good head and body position in the water. The goal is for each child to optimize their balance by swimming. We specifically focus on having your child swim on top of the water as opposed to through it. We begin by teaching the Frontcrawl with a rollover breath and the Backstroke with a strong kick and arm reach. The Breaststroke kick is taught with a streamline glide and the beginning Butterfly stroke is introduced. Sit dives and the ability to retrieve rings off the bottom of the pool complete the skills in this course.
Level 5 Otter 
This course really emphasizes the proper stroke technique associated with the four strokes learned in Level 4. These strokes are practiced within the parameters of a short distance swim. As part of our overall methodology, we believe that a disciplined technique produces a swimmer with both good positioning and balance. We introduce your child to treading water, kneeling dives and front somersaults, which serve as future flip-turns. Upon completion of this course, your child will be ready for the last level in our Learn to Swim Program.
Level 6 Seal 
Level 6 is designed to take a child that has strong short distance strokes and train them to add distance and power to these strokes. This is a good class for your beginning competitive 8 year old and under swimmer. We focus on swimming the length of the pool with Frontcrawl, Backstroke and Breaststroke complete with turns. Children are expected to swim ½ length of the Butterfly stroke. We also work on standing dives, 3 minutes of treading water and begin an introduction to Lifesaving. Upon completion of this course, your child has the necessary skills to be safe in and around the water. If interested in continuing on into our competitive swim levels and learning additional Lifesaving skills, your child is now ready to join squads.
Recreational Swim Team
Recreational Swim Team
“Give your child the gift of being all that they can be.”
The Recreational Swim Team is designed to aid youngsters in excelling in a competitive swim environment. They may be a competent swimmer looking to learn how to swim competitively, or an already competitive swimmer, wanting to enhance their stroke and drop their time. In either scenario, it is our goal to train them. Your child will also learn lifesaving skills that can be used to not only save their life, but the lives of others. When you add the advantages of achieving competitive strokes with the ability to perform lifesaving skills, you give your child the gift of knowledge and confidence in the water.
The Kittelson Aquajets
Level 7 Dolphin 
Recreational Swim Team with Instruction
This is a 45-minute practice with up to 6 swimmers enrolled. Level 7 is a pre-recreational swim team that prepares swimmers for a team environment. This class is designed for children interested in working on their swim technique and endurance. This class is perfect for the advanced 8 year old and 9-10 year old competitive swimmer. The specialized techniques that we teach create a stronger and faster swimmer. We will help each child focus on their chosen competitive events and assist them in achieving faster starts and turns.
Level 8 Barracuda  Level 9 Shark 
Recreational Swim Team
Levels 8 and 9 practice at the same time, but are divided by skill level into separate lanes. These practices are one-hour in length and can have up to 12 swimmers per time. These practices focus on providing children with a consistent opportunity to develop and refine their swim endurance and technique. We do not hold any meets and class times are flexible to accomodate your schedule. A swimmer can choose to register for one night or several nights a week. Many of our youth in the program swim competitively during the summer for one of the Madison City outdoor pools. This type of schedule allows them to keep up on their swimming during the off-season months, without having to commit to a rigourous practice/meet schedule.
Prerequisites:
Level 7
Swimmers must either complete Level 6 at Kittelson Swim School OR if new to the program, be able to swim a FULL length of the pool in all four strokes (front, back, breast, & fly)
Level 8 and 9
Swimmers must either complete Level 7 at Kittelson Swim School OR if new to the program, be able to swim two FULL lengths of the pool in all four strokes
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